MOSCOW, April 23 (RAPSI) – A court in Russia’s Khabarovsk has sentenced a former deputy chief of Dalspetsstroy construction company Mikhail Gelman to 6 years and 3 months in prison for abuse of office resulted in the infliction of an 800-million-ruble damage ($12.5 million) to the state, the Investigative Committee’s press service reports.

Additionally, the defendant has been prohibited from holding certain positions for 3 years.

According to investigators, in late 2014, Gelman in violation of set tender procedures signed a contract on the abstraction intake construction at the facilities of the Cosmodrome Vostochny with the firm Airdromes, Bridges, Roads. 

From December 2014 to January 2016, he ignored reports of his subordinates on the slow rate of the company’s work that resulted in the facility commissioning schedule overrun. However, the firm Airdromes, Bridges, Roads received over 1.1 billion rubles (over $17 million), over 800 million of which were paid for outstanding works.

During the investigation, assets worth over 25 million rubles (about $400,000) belonging to Gelman were seized, the statement reads.